IBM Plex – A new typeface • Hacker News Board

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#21

Post by jefe_ » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:53 PM UTC

User Experience Goal: Amphetamine-Fueled Delusions of Grandeur

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#22

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:53 PM UTC

Apple, Samsung, Netflix, now IBM... why does everyone need their own typeface? Is it to save on licensing fees? As a user, I don't really find these fonts very distinctive, so I don't associate them with their brands.

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#23

Post by Terribledactyl » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:53 PM UTC

baconomatic wrote: post #2

Anyone else find these sort of sites annoying to navigate? How am I supposed to know how much I need to scroll down? Is the site broken or do I just need to scroll more? Overall, I'm surprised it's taken IBM this long to put out a font.

It's a natural extension of awful PowerPoints

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#24

Post by rado » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:54 PM UTC

Love the font.

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#25

Post by Numberwang » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:55 PM UTC

Hmm, this is old right? I remember seeing this months ago.

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#26

Post by warent » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:55 PM UTC

draw_down wrote: post #7

warent wrote: post #3

Am I the only one that finds this page clunky and awkward to navigate?

No, in fact literally the only other top level comment says the same exact thing.

Our posts were seconds apart, I didn't even see it until after I made mine

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#27

Post by JustSomeNobody » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:56 PM UTC

I really thought this was going to be video streaming related. Then I opened the site and thought, "Ok, that makes much more sense."

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#28

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:56 PM UTC

CabSauce wrote: post #6

baconomatic wrote: post #2

Anyone else find these sort of sites annoying to navigate? How am I supposed to know how much I need to scroll down? Is the site broken or do I just need to scroll more? Overall, I'm surprised it's taken IBM this long to put out a font.

This might be the worst version of this type of page I've ever seen.

[deleted]

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#29

Post by luma » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:56 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #18

From my experience dealing with IBM, I can only imagine this was the result of 5 different consulting teams, assisted by 3 different outsourced development groups, which was delayed numerous times, then Watson was added, and then a re-org caused by layoffs, which finally resulted in a website that couldn't scroll and caused the CPU of my high-end laptop to scream...

It feels like there should be a 9-digit contract with a hapless government entity that stands no chance of actually getting the font they thought they were paying for.

Re: IBM Plex – A new typeface

#30

Post by krona » Wed, Mar 28, 2018, 7:59 PM UTC

seibelj wrote: post #18

From my experience dealing with IBM, I can only imagine this was the result of 5 different consulting teams, assisted by 3 different outsourced development groups, which was delayed numerous times, then Watson was added, and then a re-org caused by layoffs, which finally resulted in a website that couldn't scroll and caused the CPU of my high-end laptop to scream...

You missed the most important part; it was initiated by a team of lawyers who were tipped off by another team who noticed the Watson design team were using a typeface on public websites which they didn't have the copyright to, and certainly didn't have the license to redistribute.

Almost 2 years later, Plex was born.

(This is a true story, by the way.)